


Decorated Up Nice

by lar_laughs



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Community: onceuponaland, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-07
Updated: 2012-01-07
Packaged: 2017-10-29 02:27:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/314827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lar_laughs/pseuds/lar_laughs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brittany buys Santana something nice to show that she's serious about this relationship.  This is a College AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Decorated Up Nice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ladybug218](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladybug218/gifts).



The package was small but the bow was large. Under the dim lights of the small room, it glittered and glowed and made the room festive. Considering it was nearly midnight on the fifteenth of March, the Christmas paper was out of place. Santana threw her bag on the bed on the right before approaching the gift. It was beautiful and it didn't matter what was inside because the outside was a gift unto itself.

"Brit, was this here when you left the room?" She turned around but her roommate was no longer behind her. A tiny giggle gave away Brittany's location but Santana wasn't about to ruin the surprise. They'd decided not to give each other presents for any holidays, seeing as neither of them had any money to throw away on frivolities after tuition expenses. If they hadn't decided to take the same classes so they could share books, there would be very little over left over in the joint savings account they'd opened up at the bank down the street at the beginning of the school year. Two years of working overtime and weekends and retaking the SATs until both of them had most of the answers memorized had gotten them into a small dorm room at a college as far away from Lima Heights as they could get for a pair of cheap bus tickets and a strong desire to start over.

As much as she wanted to tell Brittany to take back whatever she'd gotten, Santana found that she couldn't. Living with her best friend was supposed to be the best gift of all but she found that she really did want to accept this gift with all the holiday cheer it implied. This might explain why Brittany was suddenly wearing the same outfits with increased frequency. Somewhere on campus, there was most likely a few girls with only lightly-worn cropped sweaters and tartan minis. They never went anywhere so it wasn't like there needed to be two wardrobes full of clothes between the two of them.

Santana's hands were shaking as she picked up the box. The weight didn't reveal what was inside; it weighed hardly more than the box and wrapping. She could think of at least five things, right off the top of her head, that Brittany might have bought her, all of them from the jewelry department. "This is too much, Brit. You shouldn't have."

"Just open it, already."

"Come in here so I can open it with you in the room."

There was another giggle. Brittany was enjoying this. It had been a long time since she'd been able to give presents and, for a girl like Brittany who enjoyed bringing joy to other people, that must have been hard. All Santana could do was play it up.

"Fine. Be that way. I'm going to have all the enjoyment of this gift. Too bad." She grinned as her blonde-haired friend bounced into the room. When Santana patted the bed beside her, Brittany sat down and wrapped her arms around her bent legs. "So, what made you decide that I needed a present today?"

"You've been down lately. Not yourself. I wanted to make you smile."

 _Down_ was an understatement. Santana had been down-right depressed. She was getting in over her head with school work and her job and, worst of all, Brittany had been flirting with the guy they'd hired as a tutor. As much as she wanted to make a stink about the smiles and head tilts, Santana had made Brittany a promise that she wasn't going to press her. College was supposed to be about experimentation, after all. Just because she had known who and what she wanted for years now didn't mean that Brittany couldn't have a chance to figure it out. They'd had three years together. Three years of ups and downs, good times and bad. She was always scared that Brittany would decide that she wanted things to be different.

"You could have just gotten me this bow. That would have done it." And she was smiling because of the bow. It was covered in glitter and even this low light was making colors dance across the span of it.

Brittany's feet began dancing. "Open it, already."

Taking care to keep as much of the paper intact as possible, Santana opened the present. The box contained another box nestled among some wadded up paper. It was another cardboard box but it was nicer than the first one, as if it could be used without any wrapping. Santana took the time to roll the box around in her hands, admiring the sharp angles of the corners and the perfectly creased sides. "It's beautiful." She traced the engraved symbol on the top flap. The closest she'd ever come to this particular store was walking by it in the mall, wondering if the rent-a-cops they always kept positioned near the middle of the store would get antsy if she admired the merchandise in the glass cases.

"It's a box, silly. Just open it," Brittany chided, her whole body vibrating with anticipation.

Because she was afraid that her friend might _actually_ explode from having to wait for the unveiling, Santana slit the tape with her nail and took off the top portion. In those seconds, she thought of the numerous different things that the box might contain. Her own anticipation was running higher than she'd allowed it in a long time. This was better than Christmas because she knew that Brittany wanted her to have the present, whatever it was. Not just because it was a day for gift-giving but because she truly wanted Santana to have this... this gum-chain ring.

She held it up, wondering where the joke was. A pretty box, glittery bows and something made out of the yellow wrappers of Juicy Fruit, Brittany's favorite gum. She'd been the one to teach Brittany how to fold the paper and lock it together so that it held just perfectly.

"It's... pretty. I'll wear it forever. Or it falls off."

Brittany's smile was electrifying, sending shivers up and down Santana's back. She wanted nothing more than to kiss that mouth until the smile slid off. Because Santana was concentrating on the expression, she nearly missed what Brittany was saying.

"What?"

"That one. It's not yours." Brittany reached out and pulled the paper ring from Santana's grasp. "It's mine. This one is yours."

The ring she held out was a thin band of gold. There was nothing fancy about it but it was obviously good quality. When she slid it on her ring finger, it was a perfect fit. "Why?" she asked, trying to figure out what the gift might mean. Was it just a pretty bauble?

"Because it was time. You used to get so jealous when I would spend time with other people and then you didn't. I thought maybe you'd changed your mind about the two of us. That you didn't like me anymore."

"Of course I like you, Brit. I love you."

"Right. I know that. But I thought maybe you'd forgotten." She reached out to touch the ring, her body heat warming up the metal. "I kept flirting with Riley in the hopes your eyes would get all squinty like they did in school when I talked with the boys. Do you remember that?"

Of course she did. It was painful to remember just how much of her high school career had been wasted trying to figure out what Brittany was doing with her currently flings. It had taken time and concentration to get to the place where she didn't fixate over Brittany every moment of the day. Not thinking about her only made the times she spent with her better and, sometimes, just as painful as fixating. _Wake up and notice that I'm the perfect person for you,_ she wanted to scream at her friend. But she couldn't force her into a relationship she didn't want. She was willing to be just a friend if it meant getting to spend time like this with Brittany.

"So you don't really like Riley?"

"Not as much as I like you. And I like you a lot. The kind of like that I want to feel forever. I know you've told me that I need to spread my wings and fly while we're here but I don't want to. I just want you."

"Brit, you don't-"

"No, I do. I want us to be exclusive. I want us to be a couple. For reals. Like with rings. And a commitment."

This time Santana didn't hold back from kissing Brittany. When they were both panting and gasping for breath, she smoothed the hand with the ring over her girlfriend's cheek. "It's always been you, Brittany."

Brittany smiled, leaning into the caress. "It's always going to be the two of us. Forever."


End file.
